"Staying alive is as good as it gets." (Selena)

Rating: Null/10 (7 February 2005)

"28 Days Later" opens with views of rioting and other violence all over the world, then the camera gradually pulls back to show us a Chimp, strapped down, being shown these images at a Primate Research center via multiple monitors. Activists break in to free the Chimps, ignoring a warning that they are infected with a new "rage" virus that spreads very quickly and those infected are in a constant "rage" and, quite miraculously, only attack those who do NOT have the virus. So, this movie is about what could happen if, through carelessness, humankind unleashed a devastating virus that would threaten to destroy all of civilization. I quite enjoyed this movie, it isn't perfect by any stretch, but held my interest to the closing credits, and beyond, with some interesting "extras" on the DVD.
SPOILERS FOLLOW. The main story starts "28 days later", we see Jim naked in a hospital bed, no one else around. He strips off the tubes, grabs some scrubs, and takes a stroll into London. All the familiar landmarks, not a person or moving vehicle in sight. The only sounds we hear are the fluttering wings of pigeons. Newspaper headlines tell of the virus and the exodus of British from their island. However the news stops after reporting that large cities like New York and Paris are infected, so the virus may have spread all over the world. For anyone not yet infected, "Staying alive is as good as it gets", says Selena.
Jim gets away from some "infected" he encounters, and ends up with Selena, plus Frank and his 14 year old daughter, Hannah. They have a self-powered radio, randomly scan and hear a broadcast message telling of a safe place and possible cure northeast of Manchester. The next third of the movie is a road trip, as they find a taxi and supplies from a grocery store and head north, on deserted main highways. They approach Manchester and see the whole city in flames and smoke. Frank gets infected when, looking up in a barn, has a drop of fluid from a dead body drop into his eye. Almost immediately in a rage, we hear gunshots, see the soldiers, the three survivors are taken to the compound.
They think they are safe, but Jim learns from the commander of the nine men, "I promised them women", there really was no cure, the message was just to try to get women. Jim reacts by trying to run away with Selena and Hannah, but is subdued and taken out by two rogues to be shot. He escapes, looks up to see commercial jet contrails, knows there is hope, eventually gets the best of all of the others, he and the two women escape in the taxi. They end up in a country farmhouse, Selena sews sheets and other fabrics together to make a very large 'H E L L O' which is seen by a jet fighter flying low, and we suspect they will join other survivors and begin to re-populate the world.